Multi-user devices in a connected home environment

ABSTRACT

A device implementing a system for responding to a voice request includes a processor configured to receive a voice request for content, the voice request corresponding to a first user account, the device being associated with the first user account, a second user account and a default account. The processor if further configured to determine that the content is unavailable via the first user account, and provide, in response to the determining, the content via at least one of the second user account or the default account.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/855,701, entitled “Multi-User Devices in aConnected Home Environment,” and filed on May 31, 2019, the disclosureof which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present description relates generally to a multi-user deviceincluding a multi-user device in a connected home environment.

BACKGROUND

Multiple different devices in a home may be communicably coupledtogether to form a connected home environment. For example, a connectedhome environment may include a smart thermostat, smart switches, smartlight bulbs, and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain features of the subject technology are set forth in the appendedclaims. However, for purpose of explanation, several embodiments of thesubject technology are set forth in the following figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment that includes aconnected home environment containing multi-user devices in accordancewith one or more implementations.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example device that may implement a system forresponding to a user request in a connected home environment inaccordance with one or more implementations.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process for utilizing a voice profile in aconnected home environment in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example process of sharing user profile datacontained within data stores with a multi-user device in accordance withone or more implementations.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process for providing amulti-user device with access to a voice profile in accordance with oneor more implementations.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process for selecting auser account on a multi-user device from which to provide content inresponse to a voice request in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process for selecting arequest domain from which to provide content on a multi-user device inresponse to a voice request in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process for selecting anoutput device in a connected home environment from which to providecontent in response to a voice request in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example electronic system with which aspects ofthe subject technology may be implemented in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description ofvarious configurations of the subject technology and is not intended torepresent the only configurations in which the subject technology can bepracticed. The appended drawings are incorporated herein and constitutea part of the detailed description. The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understandingof the subject technology. However, the subject technology is notlimited to the specific details set forth herein and can be practicedusing one or more other implementations. In one or more implementations,structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order toavoid obscuring the concepts of the subject technology.

A multi-user device in a connected home environment may facilitateoutputting content in the connected home environment. For example, amulti-user device with a built-in voice assistant, such as a smartspeaker with a built-in voice assistant, may receive voice requests fromusers to output content, such as movies, music, etc., on an outputdevice in the connected home environment, such as on the smart speaker,on another smart speaker, on a video output device, and the like.

The subject system provides for one or more authorized users of aconnected home environment (that belongs to another user) to share theirvoice profiles with multi-user device(s) included in the connected homeenvironment. A user's voice profile may have been generated and stored(e.g., in a secure container associated with the user's account on acloud storage service) by a personal electronic device of the user, suchas the user's mobile phone. When a user shares their voice profile witha multi-user device in a connected home environment that belongs toanother user, a secure container associated with the other user isupdated to include a reference to the secure container that stores theuser's voice profile. Each of the multi-user devices in the connectedhome environment that the user has shared their voice profile with maythen access the user's voice profile through the secure containerassociated with the other user (which refers back to the voice profilestored on the user's secure container). Thus, the multi-user devices inthe connected home environment can access the voice profiles of anyauthorized users of the connected home environment who have shared theirvoice profiles.

After a user has authorized their voice profile to be shared withmulti-user devices in a connected home environment, one of themulti-user devices may receive a voice request, such as a voice requestfor the output of content. For example, the voice request may be to playmusic, play a movie, read a text message, play a game or perform anotheraction. The multi-user device may determine which of the authorized useraccounts of the connected home environment corresponds to the user whoissued the voice request, if any. This determination may be made basedon, for example, vocal characteristics of the voice request, andcorresponding vocal characteristics indicated by the voice profiles ofthe authorized users of the connected home environment. Once themulti-user device determines which of the user accounts corresponds tothe user who issued the voice request, the multi-user device may accessone or more settings or content libraries associated with the determineduser account, e.g., for responding to the voice request.

When the voice request is a request to output content in the connectedhome environment, the multi-user device may determine an appropriateoutput device in the connected home environment for outputting thecontent. The multi-user device may determine the appropriate outputdevice based on one or more of: configuration settings related topositions of respective output devices within the connected homeenvironment, user account profiles that are available on the differentoutput devices in the connected home environment, the content availablethrough such user account profiles, and/or device output capabilities(e.g., video/audio, audio only) of the output devices in the connectedhome environment.

In one or more implementations, the multi-user device may determine thatthe requested content is not available in a content librarycorresponding to the user account of the user who provided the voicerequest. However, the multi-user device may determine that the requestedcontent is available in a content library corresponding to anotherauthorized user of the connected home environment, such as the owner.Thus, the multi-user device may be configured to a select a contentlibrary corresponding to another authorized user of the connected homeenvironment (e.g., of the owner, another user within the home and/or adefault account) in order to access the requested content when therequested content is not available through the content librarycorresponding to the user account of the user who provided the voicerequest.

The subject system also provides for the multi-user device to select anappropriate request domain for responding to the voice request, wheredifferent request domains correspond to different privacy levels. Forexample, a personal request domain may be used for the multi-user deviceto access/read a text message from the personal device of the speakinguser. The personal request domain may be associated with a higherprivacy level than the other request domains (e.g., requiringappropriate authorization by the user based on configuration settings).A media request domain may be used to access content associated with theuser's content library (e.g., which may require appropriateauthorization via configuration settings for accessing a user profile).Moreover, a general request domain may be used to provide generalcontent (e.g., weather, time and the like).

By virtue of the subject system as described herein, multiple differentauthorized users of a connected home environment can issue voicerequests to multi-user device(s) within the connected home environment.The responses to the voice requests can be personalized for eachauthorized user, as appropriate, and different output devices of theconnected home environment may be selected for responding to therequests, such as based on configuration settings (e.g., of theconnected home environment and/or provided by the requesting user).Moreover, privacy of an authorized user of a connected home environmentbelonging to another user can be maintained by, for example, storing theuser's voice profile and/or user preferences/settings in the user'ssecure container, with only a reference to the voice profile and/orpreferences/settings being made available to the multi-user devices ofthe connected home environment belonging to the other user.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment 100 that includes aconnected home environment containing multi-user devices in accordancewith one or more implementations. Not all of the depicted components maybe used in all implementations, however, and one or more implementationsmay include additional or different components than those shown in thefigure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may bemade without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims as setforth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewercomponents may be provided.

The network environment 100 includes electronic devices 102, 103, 104,105, 106 and 107 (hereinafter “the electronic devices 102-107”), a localarea network (“LAN”) 108, a network 110, and a content provider 112 andone or more cloud-based service(s) 114 (hereinafter “the servers112-114”). In one or more implementations, the electronic devices102-107 may part of a connected home environment 116, and the LAN 108may communicatively (directly or indirectly) couple any two or more ofthe electronic devices 102-107 within the connected home environment116. Moreover, the network 110 may communicatively (directly orindirectly) couple any two or more of the electronic devices 102-107with the content provider 112 and/or the cloud-based service 114, forexample, in conjunction with the LAN 108.

In one or more implementations, the LAN 108 may include one or moredifferent network devices/network medium and/or may utilize one or moredifferent wireless and/or wired network technologies, such as Ethernet,optical, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Powerline over Ethernet, coaxial,Ethernet, Z-Wave, cellular, or generally any wireless and/or wirednetwork technology that may communicatively couple two or more devices.

In one or more implementations, the network 110 may be an interconnectednetwork of devices that may include, and/or may be communicativelycoupled to, the Internet. For explanatory purposes, the networkenvironment 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as including electronic devices102-107, and the servers 112-114; however, the network environment 100may include any number of electronic devices and any number of servers.

One or more of the electronic devices 102-107 may be, for example, aportable computing device such as a laptop computer, a smartphone, asmart speaker, a peripheral device (e.g., a digital camera, headphones),a digital media player, a tablet device, a wearable device such as asmartwatch or a band, a connected home device, such as a wirelesscamera, a router and/or wireless access point, a wireless access device(e.g., a door lock), a smart thermostat, smart light bulbs, homesecurity devices (e.g., motion sensors, door/window sensors, etc.),smart outlets, smart switches, and the like, or any other appropriatedevice that includes and/or is communicatively coupled to, for example,one or more wired or wireless interfaces, such as WLAN radios, cellularradios, Bluetooth radios, Zigbee radios, near field communication (NFC)radios, and/or other wireless radios.

By way of example, in FIG. 1 each of the electronic devices 102-103 isdepicted as a smart speaker, the electronic device 106 is depicted as asmartphone, the electronic device 107 is depicted as a smartwatch, andeach of the electronic devices 104-105 is depicted as a digital mediaplayer (e.g., configured to receive digital data such as music and/orvideo and stream it to a display device such as a television or othervideo display). In one or more implementations, one or more of theelectronic devices 104-105 may be integrated into its correspondingdisplay device. One or more of the electronic devices 102-107 may be,and/or may include all or part of, the device discussed below withrespect to FIG. 2 , and/or the electronic system discussed below withrespect to FIG. 9 .

In one or more implementations, the electronic devices 102-105 maycorrespond to multi-user devices, which are associated with a homeaccount and usable to provide content and/or respond to requests (e.g.,voice requests) for multiple users associated with respective useraccounts of the connected home environment 116 (e.g., authorized users).One of more of the electronic devices 102-105 may be configured toreceive user authorization to access respective voice profiles and/orrespective user account profiles, in order to respond to a user request(e.g., a voice request) within the connected home environment 116.

In one or more implementations, the electronic device 106 may correspondto a personal device associated with a user account (e.g., of a usernamed “Alison”). Alison may reside in or be a guest of thehome/residence (e.g., corresponding to the connected home environment116), which is also the home of another user (e.g., named “Bob”). Theelectronic device 107 may be associated with a user account for Bob, andthe electronic devices 102-105 may correspond to a home account for Bob.For example, the respective users may register and/or associate theirrespective electronic devices 102-106 to their respective user accountsthrough a service provider, such as through the cloud-based service 114.

In one or more implementations, Bob may interact with the electronicdevice 107 in order to access and/or output content (e.g., video and/ormusic available through Bob's content library) on one or more of theelectronic devices 102-105. Moreover, based on an invitation from Bob(e.g., via the electronic device 107) and acceptance by Alison (e.g.,via the electronic device 106), Alison's user account may be associatedwith, and accessible on, one or more of the electronic devices 102-105(e.g., the multi-user devices) in Bob's connected home environment 116.Thus, Alison may use her electronic device 106 as a remote control inorder to output content (e.g., content that is provided by the contentprovider 112 in association with her content library) on one or more ofthe electronic devices 102-105.

Alternatively or in addition, Alison may access her media content (e.g.,music and/or video) on one or more of the electronic devices 102-105without using her electronic device 106. For example, the electronicdevices 102-103 (e.g., smart speakers) may have a virtual assistantapplication running thereon, and Alison may provide a voice request tostream music (e.g., via the content provider 112) in association withher user account (e.g., content library). In another example, theelectronic devices 104-105 (e.g., digital media players) may haverespective remote control devices that Alison can use (e.g., viaphysical button(s) and/or voice requests spoken to the remote) to outputvideo and/or music via the content provider 112 in association with heruser account.

With respect to voice requests, Alison may have selected, via a userinterface provided by the electronic device 106, to authorize sharing ofa voice profile associated with her user account with one or more of theelectronic devices 102-105. Thus, in response to the electronic device102 receiving a voice request by Alison for content, the electronicdevice 102 may determine that the request is associated with Alison'suser account (e.g., based on the shared voice profile), and provide forresponding to Alison's request based on her user account.

In one or more implementations, the content provider 112 may beconfigured to provide content (e.g., media content and/or other type(s)of content) to a device (e.g., one or more of the electronic devices102-107). In one or more implementations, the cloud-based service 114may be configured to perform operations in association with useraccounts such as: storing data (e.g., voice profiles, usersettings/preferences, files such as documents and/or photos, etc.) withrespect to a user account, sharing and/or sending data with other userswith respect to a user account, backing up device data with respect to auser account, and/or associating devices and/or groups of devices (e.g.,within the connected home environment 116) with user accounts.

One or more of the servers 112-114 may be, and/or may include all orpart of the device discussed below with respect to FIG. 2 , and/or theelectronic system discussed below with respect to FIG. 9 . Each of theservers 112-114 may include one or more servers, such as a cloud ofservers. For explanatory purposes, a single server is shown anddiscussed with respect to various operations for each of the servers112-114. However, these and other operations discussed herein may beperformed by one or more servers, and each different operation may beperformed by the same or different servers.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example device that may implement a system forresponding to a user request in a connected home environment inaccordance with one or more implementations. For example, the device 200of FIG. 2 can correspond to any of the electronic devices 102-107 and/orthe servers 112-114 of FIG. 1 . Not all of the depicted components maybe used in all implementations, however, and one or more implementationsmay include additional or different components than those shown in thefigure. Variations in the arrangement and type of the components may bemade without departing from the spirit or scope of the claims as setforth herein. Additional components, different components, or fewercomponents may be provided.

The device 200 may include a processor 202, a memory 204, acommunication interface 206 and an audio input device 208. The processor202 may include suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that enableprocessing data and/or controlling operations of the device 200. In thisregard, the processor 202 may be enabled to provide control signals tovarious other components of the device 200. The processor 202 may alsocontrol transfers of data between various portions of the device 200.Additionally, the processor 202 may enable implementation of anoperating system or otherwise execute code to manage operations of thedevice 200.

The memory 204 may include suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code thatenable storage of various types of information such as received data,generated data, code, and/or configuration information. The memory 204may include, for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory(ROM), flash, and/or magnetic storage.

In one or more implementations, in a case where the device 200corresponds to one of the electronic devices 102-105, the memory 204 maystore one or more components configured to receive a request (e.g., avoice request), associate the request with a user account and providefor responding to the request. Moreover, the audio input device 208 mayinclude suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code for capturing audioinput, such as voice requests. For example, the audio input device 208may include one or more microphones and/or other devices for capturingaudio input.

In one or more implementations, in a case where the device 200corresponds to the cloud-based service, 114, the memory 204 may storeuser profile data (e.g., voice profiles) and/or configuration settingsassociated with a home environment (e.g., the connected home environment116).

The communication interface 206 may include suitable logic, circuitry,and/or code that enables wired or wireless communication, such asbetween any of the electronic devices 102-107 and/or the servers 112-114over the network 110 (e.g., in conjunction with the LAN 108). Thecommunication interface 206 may include, for example, one or more of aBluetooth communication interface, a cellular interface, an NFCinterface, a Zigbee communication interface, a WLAN communicationinterface, a USB communication interface, or generally any communicationinterface.

In one or more implementations, one or more of the processor 202, thememory 204, the communication interface 206, the audio input device 208,and/or one or more portions thereof, may be implemented in software(e.g., subroutines and code), may be implemented in hardware (e.g., anApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field ProgrammableGate Array (FPGA), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), a controller, astate machine, gated logic, discrete hardware components, or any othersuitable devices) and/or a combination of both.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process for utilizing a voice profile in aconnected home environment in accordance with one or moreimplementations. For explanatory purposes, the process 300 is primarilydescribed herein with reference to the electronic devices 102 and 106,and the cloud-based service 114 of FIG. 1 . However, the process 300 isnot limited to the electronic devices 102 and 106, and the cloud-basedservice 114 of FIG. 1 , and one or more blocks (or operations) of theprocess 300 may be performed by one or more other components and/orother suitable devices (e.g., any of the electronic devices 102-107).Further for explanatory purposes, the blocks of the process 300 aredescribed herein as occurring in serial, or linearly. However, multipleblocks of the process 300 may occur in parallel. In addition, the blocksof the process 300 need not be performed in the order shown and/or oneor more blocks of the process 300 need not be performed and/or can bereplaced by other operations.

As noted above, the connected home environment 116 of FIG. 1 may includeelectronic devices associated with respective user accounts (e.g., theelectronic device 106 being associated with Alison's user account andthe electronic device 107 being associated with Bob's user account).Moreover, the connected home environment 116 may include one or more ofthe electronic devices 102-105, corresponding to multi-user devices thatare configured to output content and/or respond to requests with respectto different user accounts. In one or more implementations, theelectronic devices 102-105 may belong to Bob, and therefore Bob's useraccount may be associated with the electronic devices 102-105 as theowner user account and/or as the primary user account.

The process 300 includes an enrollment phase (e.g., blocks 302-310) anda sharing phase (e.g., blocks 312-326). During the enrollment phase, auser of the electronic device 106, such as Alison, may request to sharea voice profile with the electronic device 102, and appropriate updatesmay be made to a cloud-based data store to share the voice profile.Moreover, during the sharing phase, the user of the electronic device106 may use the voice profile in association with issuing voice requeststo the electronic device 102. In one or more implementations, theenrollment phase may first occur when the user associated with theelectronic device 106, e.g., Alison, is invited to the connected homeenvironment 116 by the electronic device 107 associated with the useraccount of the owner of the connected home environment 116, such as Bob.Alison may accept Bob's request, e.g. via the electronic device 106, andAlison may then complete the enrollment phase.

As described herein, in one or more implementations, differentidentifiers may be used to identify user accounts and/or devicesassociated with the connected home environment 116. For example, afterAlison completes the enrollment process with respect to Bob's connectedhome environment 116, Alison may be identifiable by one or more of: a“home user identifier” that uniquely identifies Alison with respect tothe home account (e.g., for the connected home environment 116); a“shared user identifier” that uniquely identifies Alison across multipledevices associated with Alison's user account (e.g., the electronicdevice 106 as well as other devices associated with Alison's useraccount); a “primary device identifier” that identifies the electronicdevice 106 as a primary device of Alison; and/or a “content useridentifier” that uniquely identifies Alison with respect to the contentprovider 112. Similar identifiers may be associated with Bob and otheruser accounts associated with the connected home environment 116.

At operation 302, the electronic device 106, e.g. associated withAlison's user account, sends, to the electronic device 102, e.g.,associated with Bob's user account, a request to share a voice profilewith the electronic device 102. For example, the request may be sentbased on user input received via a user interface displayed at theelectronic device 106. The user interface may provide the user (e.g.,Alison) with the option to share a voice profile, which is associatedwith the electronic device 106, with the electronic device 102. Bysharing the voice profile, the electronic device 102 may access Alison'svoice profile when responding to a voice request received by theelectronic device 102 (e.g., to detect whether the voice request isattributable to Alison).

In one or more implementations, Alison may already have a voice profilestored in association with the electronic device 106 (e.g., her personaldevice). As discussed below with respect to FIG. 4 , the voice profilemay be stored in an encrypted data store (e.g., within the cloud-basedservice 114) in association with the electronic device 106. However, itis possible that Alison may have not yet set up a voice profile inassociation with the electronic device 106. In such a case, the userinterface for sharing a voice profile (e.g., as displayed at theelectronic device 106) may provide an option for Alison to set up avoice profile. In one or more implementations, setting up a voiceprofile may request Alison to provide voice input to the electronicdevice 106 based on a series of predefined questions. For example, thepredefined questions may assist in determining vocal characteristics(e.g., tone, pitch, accent and the like) for Alison's voice. Aftercompleting the voice profile setup, an encrypted data store may beupdated for Alison, to include a voice profile associated with Alison'suser account for the electronic device 106.

At operation 304, the electronic device 102 sends, to the cloud-basedservice 114, a request to update a data store on the cloud-based service114 to include the voice profile. As noted, the data store maycorrespond to a secure/encrypted data container for storing a respectivevoice profile for Alison. The cloud-based service 114 may includeadditional encrypted data stores for including voice profiles associatedwith other user accounts (e.g., a voice profile for Bob and/or voiceprofiles for other user accounts associated with the connected homeenvironment 116). In one or more implementations, the cloud-basedservice 114 may be configured to identify users based on the shared useridentifiers as described above. As such, the request at operation 304may include the shared user identifier for Alison. The request mayfurther include the primary device identifier for the electronic device106 (e.g., corresponding to Alison's personal device).

The cloud-based server 114 receives the request and shares Alison'svoice profile with Bob's device (e.g., the electronic device 102) byperforming, for example, the following process described with respect toFIG. 4 . In this regard, FIG. 4 illustrates an example process ofsharing profile data contained within data stores with a multi-userdevice in accordance with one or more implementations. For explanatorypurposes, the process 400 is primarily described herein with referenceto the electronic devices 102, 106 and 107 and the cloud-based service114 of FIG. 1 . However, the process 400 is not limited to theelectronic device 102, 106 and 107 and/or the cloud-based service 114,and one or more other components and/or other suitable devices (e.g.,any of the electronic devices 102-107) may be used.

As noted above with respect to FIG. 1 , the electronic device 106 may beassociated with/registered to Alison's user account and may correspondto a personal device of Alison, the electronic device 107 may beassociated with/registered to Bob's user account and may correspond to apersonal device of Bob, and the electronic device 102 may be associatedwith/registered to Bob's user account and may correspond to a multi-userdevice associated with a home account for Bob (e.g., where the devices102, 106 and 107 are connected to the LAN 108).

In the example of FIG. 4 , the cloud-based service 114 includes datastores 410 and 412, which may correspond to encrypted data containersspecific to individual user accounts. For example, the data store 412includes a voice profile for the user account of Alison (e.g., stored aspersonal profile data 403A), and the data store 410 includes a voiceprofile for the user account of Bob (e.g., stored as personal profiledata 403A). Moreover, the data store 410 may include one or morereferences to other users' voice profiles/profile data (e.g., stored asother user profile data 406B). Thus, the data store 410 may be logicallypartitioned into separate zones, where a first zone stores the profiledata 406A corresponding to Bob's user account, and a second zone storesreferences for other users' profile data 406B. Although not shown inFIG. 4 , the data store 412 may include a respective zone for other userprofile data (e.g., based on multi-user devices in a separate home inwhich Alison is the owner of the home account). As shown in operation402, the electronic device 102 may access the data store 410, so as todownload the personal profile data 406A and/or the other user profiledata 406B from the data store 410.

In one or more implementations, each of the voice profiles correspondingto the personal profile data 403A, the personal profile data 406A and/orthe other user profile data 406B may store the above-noted home useridentifier, shared user identifier, primary device identifier, andcontent user identifier for the respective user(s) accounts. Moreover,the personal profile data 403A, the personal profile data 406A and/orthe other user profile data 406B may store a mapping between the variousidentifiers, in order for the electronic devices 102-105 to identifyusers with respect to the cloud-based service 114, the content provider112 and/or the connected home environment 116. The mapping may beencrypted, such that authorized devices (e.g., the electronic devices102-105) may access the mapped identifiers to properly identify useraccounts and/or devices, while other services (e.g., corresponding tothe cloud-based service 114) are not able to access the mapping asencrypted.

In one or more implementations, one or more of the personal profile data403A and/or the personal profile data 406A may correspond to data thatwas copied (e.g., mirrored) from other data store(s) (not shown). Theother data store(s) may correspond to legacy data store(s) configured tostore voice profiles for individual users, without necessarily beingconfigured to store data corresponding to other users' profiles (e.g.,such that the legacy data stores included the above-mentioned first zonebut not the second zone). Thus, with respect to incorporating voiceprofile data stored on the legacy data stores onto the data stores410-412, the cloud-based service 114 may provide for mirroring the datafrom the legacy data stores into the respective personal profile data406A and personal profile data 403A zones of the data stores 410-412.

As noted above, Alison's electronic device 106 may display a userinterface for Alison to share her voice profile with the electronicdevice 102. In response, Bob (e.g., who may correspond to the owner ofthe home account) may be provided with a user interface for acceptingthat Alison's voice profile be shared for the electronic device 102(e.g., and/or the electronic device 104). As shown in operations 404 ofFIG. 4 , the user interface may be provided at one or more of theelectronic device 107 and/or the electronic device 102 (e.g., or 104,not shown in FIG. 4 ), such that Bob may authorize via either theelectronic devices 102 and/or 107. In authorizing with respect to theelectronic device 102, the user interface may be voice-based (e.g., “mayAlison add/share her voice profile with this device?”), such that Bobmay authorize via the electronic device 102 using a voice command (e.g.,“yes”) that is authenticated using Bob's voice profile. On the otherhand, in authorizing with respect to the electronic device 107, the userinterface may be display-based.

At operation 406, after Bob has authorized the sharing of Alison's voiceprofile on the electronic device 102, the electronic device 102 and/orthe electronic device 107 (e.g., devices associated with Bob's useraccount) may request that the data store 410 (e.g., encrypted to Bob'suser account) reference the voice profile associated with Alison's useraccount stored on the data store 412. In response to this request, thecloud-based service 114 at operation 408 may provide that the other userprofile data 406B of the data store 410 be updated to reference thepersonal profile data 403A of the data store 412. With respect toabove-noted operation 402, the electronic device may download thepersonal profile data 406A from the data store 410. Moreover, theelectronic device 102 may download the other user profile data 406B,which as noted above, references the personal profile data 403A. Thus,the electronic device 102 may access (e.g., via download) the voiceprofile associated with Alison's user account.

As such, with reference to operation 306 of FIG. 3 , Bob's data store410 is updated to store a reference to Alison's data store 412. Atoperation 308, the cloud-based service 114 sends, to the electronicdevice 102, a notification of the update (e.g., that data store 410references data store 412, so that the electronic device 102 maydownload Alison's voice profile). At operation 310, the electronicdevice 102 sends a notification to the electronic device 106 that thevoice profile is being shared.

In one or more implementations, user configuration settings (discussedbelow) associated with Alison's user account may also be stored on thedata store 412 (e.g., as part of the personal profile data 403A). Theconfiguration settings may be referenced by the data store 410 (e.g.,via the other user profile data 406B), and downloaded by the electronicdevice 102. Thus, the downloading of the Alison's voice profile dataand/or configuration settings may correspond to with completion of theenrollment phase.

Regarding the sharing phase, at operation 312, the electronic device 102receives a request (e.g., a voice request) for content, e.g., to outputcontent. For example, the voice request may correspond to one or moretypes of request for content, including, but not limited to: messaging(e.g., text messages, emails), calendar content, music, photo & video,games, books, business, catalogs, education, entertainment, finance,food & drink, health & fitness, lifestyle, medical, music, navigation,news, productivity, reference, social networking, sports, travel,utilities and weather.

Operations 314-318 relate to determining appropriate user accounts,output devices and/or request domains for responding to the voicerequest. In one or more implementations, each user account (e.g.,Alison, Bob) may have configuration settings associated therewith. Theconfiguration settings for a user account may indicate particularauthorizations that have been set by the associated user. Theconfiguration settings may have been set at a time when the user wasfirst invited to access multi-user devices (e.g., the electronic devices102-105) within the home environment, and may be updatable at a latertime by the user via a control application for settings associated withhome accounts. Moreover, the electronic device 102 may download theconfiguration settings via the data store 410 (e.g., by direct downloadof Bob's configuration settings within the personal profile data 406Aand/or based on a reference to Alison's configuration settings withinthe other user profile data 406B).

The configuration settings may include, but are not limited to: sharinga voice profile in association with a home account; sharing a useraccount profile from which content may be provided in association with ahome account; specifying which of the electronic devices 102-105 areauthorized to access/activate the user account profile; enablingpersonal requests in association with a home account; specifying whichof the electronic devices 102-105 are authorized to perform personalrequests. In one or more implementations, the user account profile mayrelate to user accounts for content (e.g., music, video, games, and thelike) that may be provided by the content provider 112. Moreover, thepersonal requests may relate to content that is stored on a personalelectronic device (e.g., the electronic devices 106-107) of a user. Forexample, personal requests may relate to content included in electronicmessages (e.g., text messages, emails), documents, contacts and/orcalendar information stored on, and/or accessible to, the personalelectronic device.

At operation 314, the electronic device 102 determines a user accountbased on the voice profile. As noted above, the data store 410 may storepersonal voice profiles (e.g., within personal profile data 406A) and/ormay reference other users' voice profiles (e.g., within other userprofile data 406B). The electronic device 102 may have downloaded thesevoice profiles (e.g., as part of a bootstrap process).

For each voice profile, the electronic device 102 may calculate aconfidence score that the user (e.g., associated a user account) whoissued/spoke the voice request corresponds to the voice profile for theuser account. The confidence scores may be based on comparing vocalcharacteristics (e.g., tone, voice pitch, accent and the like)associated with the voice request with corresponding vocalcharacteristics associated with the respective voice profiles. Theelectronic device 102 may determine a user account based on thecalculated confidence scores.

In one or more implementations, electronic device 102 determines theuser account based on the confidence scores and/or additional data withrespect to user accounts. For example, the additional data may includeprior user feedback, viewing history, listening history,viewing/listening patterns, and the like. In one or moreimplementations, the electronic device 102 may interact with thecloud-based service 114 in determining the user account based on thevoice profile.

At operation 316, the electronic device 102 determines an output device(e.g., one of the electronic devices 102-105) for responding to thevoice request. For example, the voice request received at the electronicdevice 102 may be a request to output content (e.g., video content). Theelectronic device 102 may determine, based on the voice request, toprovide the content via one of the electronic devices 104-105. Forexample, the voice request may have explicitly indicated to outputcontent “on a TV,” and the electronic device 102 may determine (e.g.,based on configuration settings) that the electronic devices 104-105 arethe only multi-user devices within the connected home environment 116that correspond to a TV. Alternatively or in addition, the voice requestmay have requested to output video content (e.g., by including a movie,show or other video-based title in the request), such that output to aTV is implicit. In response, the electronic device 102 may determine toprovide the content via one of the electronic devices 104-105, since theelectronic device 102 does not include the appropriate hardware forvideo output.

Alternatively or in addition, determination of the output device may befurther based on other configuration settings associated with the homeenvironment (e.g., and stored by the cloud-based service 114). Forexample, the configuration settings may indicate which rooms (e.g.,living room, kitchen) and/or floors (e.g., upstairs, downstairs) each ofthe electronic devices 102-105 is located in. If the user does notspecify a specific output device, since the user is presumably in thesame room as the electronic device 102, the electronic device 102 mayselect an output device which is located in the same room and/or flooras itself (e.g., the electronic 103 is on the same floor as theelectronic device 102, as shown in FIG. 1 ). In addition, thedetermination of the output device may be based on the availability ofthe content (e.g., a movie or show title) on the output device relativeto other output devices in the connected home environment 116. Forexample, availability may be based on one or more of the user profileaccounts associated/selectable on the output device (e.g., based on theconfiguration settings) and/or may be vendor-based (e.g., whereapplications installed on the respective output device are associatedwith vendors that have different content availability). In one or moreimplementations, the electronic device 102 may interact with thecloud-based service 114 in determining the output device.

At operation 318, the electronic device 102 determines a request domainfor responding to the voice request. In one or more implementations,different request domains may correspond with different personal data(e.g., privacy levels) for responding to a request. The differentrequest domains may include, but are not limited to a personal requestdomain, a media request domain and/or a general request domain. Thedetermination of a request domain may be based on the content beingrequested with respect to the voice request, configuration settings(e.g., user authorizations) associated with the connected homeenvironment 116, and/or confidence scores with respect for voicerequests corresponding to voice profiles.

The personal request domain may correspond to a privacy level foraccessing content on a personal device (e.g., the electronic device106). For example, the content may correspond to electronic messages(e.g., text messages, emails), documents, address book data (e.g.,contacts, addresses), calendar information and/or other personal datastored on the personal electronic device 106. The voice request may befor the electronic device 102 to output (e.g., via audio playback)content included in such personal data (e.g., a voice request of “readme my last text message”). As noted above, the configuration settingsmay include authorizations, provided by the user, with respect topersonal requests, and which of the electronic devices 102-105 areauthorized to access data from the personal request domain.

The media request domain may correspond to a privacy level for accessingmedia content (e.g., music, video, games and the like) associated with auser account. For example, media content may be provided by the contentprovider 112 in association with user account profiles. Examples of avoice request corresponding to the media request domain include requeststo play music, video and/or games. As noted above, the configurationsettings may include authorizations, provided by the user, with respectto user account profiles, and which of the electronic devices 102-105are authorized to access/activate user account profiles.

The general request domain may correspond to a privacy level foraccessing general content. Examples of a voice request corresponding tothe general request domain include requests for the weather, time of dayand/or other general information. In one or more implementations, thegeneral request domain is independent of the user account.Alternatively, the general request domain may be associated with userpreferences (e.g., stored in association with a user account) for theoutput of general content based on user preferences (e.g., units ofmeasure such as Celsius vs. Fahrenheit for weather, metric vs. standard,12 vs. 24 hour for time).

The determination of the appropriate request domain may further be basedon a confidence score in determining the user who issued the voicerequest, for example, as described above with respect to operation 314.The determination may be further based on the additional data (e.g.,stored locally by the electronic device 102 and/or as stored by thecloud-based service 114) with respect to user accounts, including prioruser feedback, viewing history, listening history, viewing/listeningpatterns, and the like. In one or more implementations, the electronicdevice 102 may interact with the cloud-based service 114 in determiningthe request domain.

Operation 320 is illustrated as optional, based on determining (atoperation 318) that the request domain corresponds to the personalrequest domain. In such a case, the electronic device 102 communicateswith the electronic device 106 in order to access the content (e.g., amessage, document, calendar, address book or other personal data stored)from the electronic device 106 corresponding to the voice request. Theaccessed content may be output by the electronic device 102 (e.g., audiooutput of a text message) and/or another determined output device.

At operation 322, the electronic device 102 provides for responding tothe voice request based on one or more of the determined user account(corresponding to operation 314), the determined output device(corresponding to operation 316) and/or the determined request domain(corresponding to operation 318 and/or optional operation 320).

With respect to the various determinations, it is possible that a useraccount different from the determined user account (at operation 314,corresponding to who issued the voice request) may be used to output thecontent corresponding to the voice request. The electronic device 102may be configured to check whether the requested content (e.g.,corresponding to the voice request) is available on different useraccounts.

For example, both Alison and Bob may have user account profiles that areauthorized for video output on the electronic device 103. With respectto a requested movie, music, game or the like, the content mayunavailable within Alison's content library (e.g., corresponding to thecontent provider 112), but may be available within Bob's contentlibrary. Thus, even if the electronic device 102 initially determinedthat the Alison issued the voice request, the output of content may beswitched to a different user account. In a case where the requestedcontent is also unavailable on Bob's user account, the electronic device102 may select among other user account profile(s) on the output device(e.g., within the connected home environment 116), including a defaultaccount that may be associated with the home but not necessarilyassociated with a specific user within the home.

At operation 324, the electronic device 102 sends, to the electronicdevice 106 (e.g., based on the primary device identifier associated withthe identified user account), an indication of the output deviceresponding to the request. At operation 326, the electronic device 106surfaces user interface controls for controlling the output device withrespect to the voice request. For example, if the electronic device 102corresponds to the output device (e.g., for playing music), theelectronic 106 may surface a set of controls on the electronic device106 for remotely controlling the output of music (e.g., pause, play,switch song, switch playlist and/or switch user account from Alison toBob). In another example, if the electronic device 104 corresponds tothe output device (e.g., for playing a video), the electronic 106 maysurface a set of controls for remotely controlling the output of thevideo (e.g., pause, play, switch movie, switch user account from Alisonto Bob). In yet another example, if the electronic device 104corresponds to the output device (e.g., for playing a game), theelectronic 106 may surface a set of controls for playing the game and/orotherwise interacting with the game (e.g., pause, play, accountsettings, save current place in game, and the like).

In one or more implementations, a playback history and/or preferencesfor the user account (e.g., Alison) may be updated based on the outputof content. For example, the cloud-based service 114 may store historyand/or preference data to indicate one or more of the output device, theoutput content and/or the user account used for output. Such historydata may be used to provide recommendations and/or facilitate futureplayback of content with respect to a user account.

In one or more implementations, the voice profile data for the user whoissued the voice request (e.g., Alison) may be updated, for example,based on one or more of playback history and/or user feedback (e.g.,where Alison indicates that the response to the voice request isincorrect or correct). In updating the voice profile, one or more of theelectronic device 102 and/or the electronic device 106 may provide forthe personal profile data 403A to be updated, via the references to thevoice profile included in the other user profile data 406B.

In one or more implementations, Alison may opt (e.g., via user input atthe electronic device 106, or via voice command at a multi-user device)to no longer associate her user account and/or voice profile with thehome account and the electronic devices 102-105. In response to therequest, the corresponding identifiers and/or within the other userprofile data 406B, as well as the reference to the personal profile data403A within the other user profile data 406B, may be removed.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process 500 forproviding a multi-user device with access to a voice profile inaccordance with one or more implementations. For explanatory purposes,the process 500 is primarily described herein with reference to theelectronic devices 102-106 and the cloud-based service 114 of FIG. 1 .However, the process 500 is not limited to the electronic devices102-106 and the cloud-based service 114 of FIG. 1 , and one or moreblocks (or operations) of the process 500 may be performed by one ormore other components of the cloud-based service 114 and other suitabledevices (e.g., any of the electronic devices 102-107). Further forexplanatory purposes, the blocks of the process 500 are described hereinas occurring in serial, or linearly. However, multiple blocks of theprocess 500 may occur in parallel. In addition, the blocks of theprocess 500 need not be performed in the order shown and/or one or moreblocks of the process 500 need not be performed and/or can be replacedby other operations.

The cloud-based service 114 receives a request to share a first voiceprofile corresponding to a first user account (e.g., associated with theelectronic device 106) with the electronic device 102 associated with asecond user account (502). The electronic device 102 is voice-enabled,and the first voice profile is stored on a first data store associatedwith the first user account. Receiving the request may be based on userinput received at the electronic device 106, the user input authorizingto share the first voice profile with the electronic device 102.

The electronic device 102 may be associated with a home accountcorresponding to the second user account. A user of the first useraccount may be identifiable by at least one of a first identifier thatuniquely identifies the user with respect to the home account, a secondidentifier that uniquely identifies the user across multiple devices ofthe user, a third identifier that identifies the electronic device 106as a primary device of the user, or a fourth identifier that uniquelyidentifies the user with respect to a media content server (e.g., thecontent provider 112).

The cloud-based service 114 updates a second data store associated withthe second user account to include a reference to the first voiceprofile stored on the first data store (504). The second data store mayfurther store a second voice profile corresponding to the second useraccount. The second data store may mirror the second voice profile froma third data store which does not include or reference the first voiceprofile.

The second data store may include a first portion and a second portion,the first portion for storing the second voice profile, and the secondportion for storing the reference to the first voice profile andreferences to other voice profiles corresponding to user accounts otherthan the second user account. The cloud-based service 114 sends, to theelectronic device 102, a notification that the second data store hasbeen updated to include the reference to the first voice profile (506).

The electronic device 102 may receive a voice request from a user, andcompare vocal characteristics of the voice request with those indicatedby the first voice profile and the second voice (e.g., as downloaded bythe electronic device via the second data store). The electronic device102 may calculate a first confidence score that the user corresponds tothe first user account, based on the voice request and the first voiceprofile, and calculate a second confidence score that the usercorresponds to the second user account, based on the voice request andthe second voice profile.

The electronic device 102 may determine, based on the first and secondconfidence scores, that the voice request is associated with the firstuser account. The electronic device 102 may provide a response to thevoice request based on content that corresponds to the first useraccount.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process 600 forselecting a user account on a multi-user device from which to providecontent in response to a voice request in accordance with one or moreimplementations. For explanatory purposes, the process 600 is primarilydescribed herein with reference to the electronic device 102 of FIG. 1 .However, the process 600 is not limited to the electronic device 102 ofFIG. 1 , and one or more blocks (or operations) of the process 600 maybe performed by one or more other components and/or other suitabledevices (e.g., any of the electronic devices 102-107). Further forexplanatory purposes, the blocks of the process 600 are described hereinas occurring in serial, or linearly. However, multiple blocks of theprocess 600 may occur in parallel. In addition, the blocks of theprocess 600 need not be performed in the order shown and/or one or moreblocks of the process 600 need not be performed and/or can be replacedby other operations.

The electronic device 102 receives a voice request for content (602).The voice request corresponds to a first user account, and theelectronic device 102 is associated with the first user account, asecond user account and a default account. The electronic device 102 maydetermine that the voice request corresponds to the first user accountbased on a voice profile associated with the first user account. Thesecond user account may correspond to an owner of the electronic device102.

The electronic device 102 determines that the content is unavailable viathe first user account (604). The determining may be based on anavailability of the content within a cloud-based library of contentassociated with the first user account. The cloud-based library ofcontent may include, for example, content that is owned by the firstuser account and/or content that is accessible to the first useraccount, such as through a subscription service. In one or moreimplementations, the content may be available to the user accountthrough one or more different applications for which the user accountdirectly or indirectly has access.

The electronic device 102 provides, in response to the determining, thecontent via at least one of the second user account or the defaultaccount (606). The electronic device 102 may provide the content via thesecond user account based on a determination that the content isavailable via the second user account. The electronic device 102 mayprovide the content via the default account based on a determinationthat the content is unavailable via the second user account. Theelectronic device 102 may update a playback history for the at least oneof the second user account or the default account based on theproviding.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process 700 forselecting a request domain from which to provide content in response toa voice request in accordance with one or more implementations. Forexplanatory purposes, the process 700 is primarily described herein withreference to the electronic devices 102 and 106 of FIG. 1 . However, theprocess 700 is not limited to the electronic devices 102 and 106 of FIG.1 , and one or more blocks (or operations) of the process 700 may beperformed by one or more other components and/or other suitable devices(e.g., any of the electronic devices 102-107). Further for explanatorypurposes, the blocks of the process 700 are described herein asoccurring in serial, or linearly. However, multiple blocks of theprocess 700 may occur in parallel. In addition, the blocks of theprocess 700 need not be performed in the order shown and/or one or moreblocks of the process 700 need not be performed and/or can be replacedby other operations.

The electronic device 102 receives a voice request, the electronicdevice 102 being associated with a user account (702). The electronicdevice 102 determines, based on the voice request, a confidence scorethat the voice request corresponds to a voice profile associated withthe user account (704). The electronic device 102 may be configured toaccess the voice profile based on authorization received in associationwith the user account.

The electronic device 102 selects, based on the confidence score, arequest domain from among plural request domains for responding to thevoice request (706). Each request domain of the plural request domainsmay correspond to a respective privacy level associated with the useraccount. In a case where the confidence score is below a predefinedvalue, the selecting may be further based on at least one of a locationof the electronic device 102 or prior user interaction with respect tothe user account.

The plural request domains may include a personal request domaincorresponding to a privacy level for accessing content on a personaldevice (e.g., the electronic device 106) associated with the useraccount. Alternatively or in addition, the plural request domains mayalso include a media request domain corresponding to a privacy level foraccessing media content associated with the user account, and/or ageneral request domain corresponding to a privacy level for accessinggeneral content that is independent of the user account.

In one or more implementations, the personal request domain may beassociated with the highest privacy level and therefore may require thata first, highest confidence threshold be met, the media request domainmay be associated with the second highest privacy level and thereforemay require, a second confidence threshold, less than the firstconfidence threshold to be met, and the general request domain may beassociated with the lowest privacy level and therefore may require thata third confidence threshold, less than the second confidence threshold,be met.

The electronic device 102 provides for a response to the voice requestbased on the selected request domain (708). In a case where the selectedrequest domain is the personal request domain, the electronic device 102may access content from the electronic device 106, to access a message,document, calendar, address book or other personal data on theelectronic device 106.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process 800 forselecting a device from which to provide content in response to a voicerequest in accordance with one or more implementations. For explanatorypurposes, the process 800 is primarily described herein with referenceto the electronic devices 102-106 of FIG. 1 . However, the process 800is not limited to the electronic devices 102-106 of FIG. 1 , and one ormore blocks (or operations) of the process 800 may be performed by oneor more other components and/or other suitable devices (e.g., any of theelectronic devices 102-108). Further for explanatory purposes, theblocks of the process 800 are described herein as occurring in serial,or linearly. However, multiple blocks of the process 800 may occur inparallel. In addition, the blocks of the process 800 need not beperformed in the order shown and/or one or more blocks of the process800 need not be performed and/or can be replaced by other operations.

The electronic device 102 receives a voice request for content (802),the electronic device 102 being associated with a home environment. Thevoice request corresponds to a user account. The electronic device 102may determine that the voice request corresponds to the user accountbased on a voice profile associated with the user account.

The electronic device 102 determines, based on the voice request, not tooutput the requested content via the electronic device 102 (804). Thedetermining may be based on the voice request implicitly or explicitlyindicating to provide the content via a device other than the electronicdevice 102. Alternatively or in addition, the determining may be basedon the electronic device 102 not including, and/or being associated withhardware needed to output the content, such as a video output device.

The electronic device 102 selects, in response to the determining, theelectronic device 106 to output the content from multiple candidateoutput devices (e.g., that include the necessary output hardware) in theconnected home environment 116 (806). In one or more implementations,the selecting is based at least in part on configuration settingsassociated with the connected home environment 116.

For example, the selecting may be based at least in part on theconfiguration settings indicating the electronic device 102 and theelectronic device 106 are within a same room of the home environment.Alternatively or in addition, the selecting may be based at least inpart on the configuration settings indicating that the profile of theuser account is associated with the electronic device 106, and, e.g., isnot associated with the other candidate output devices in the connectedhome environment 116. Alternatively or in addition, the selecting may bebased at least in part on the configuration settings indicating that thecontent is available on the electronic device 106 but not on the othercandidate output devices in the connected home environment 116.

The electronic device 102 provides for the electronic device 106 tooutput the content based on a profile of the user account (808). Priorto the providing, the electronic device 106 may activate the profile ofthe user account. A playback history for the user account may be updatedbased on the activating and the providing.

For example, the electronic device 102 may transmit a command to theelectronic device 106 to switch to a particular user account profile (ifnecessary), such as the user account profile corresponding to thedetermined user account, and to begin playback of the requested content.In one or more implementations, the electronic device 102 may alsotransmit a command to a personal device associated with the determineduser account to surface a remote control application on the electronicdevice 102 for remotely controlling the content being output by theelectronic device 106.

As described above, one aspect of the present technology is thegathering and use of data available from specific and legitimate sourcesfor responding to a user request within a home environment. The presentdisclosure contemplates that in some instances, this gathered data mayinclude personal information data that uniquely identifies or can beused to identify a specific person. Such personal information data caninclude demographic data, location-based data, online identifiers,telephone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, data or recordsrelating to a user's health or level of fitness (e.g., vital signsmeasurements, medication information, exercise information), date ofbirth, or any other personal information.

The present disclosure recognizes that the use of such personalinformation data, in the present technology, can be used to the benefitof users. For example, the personal information data can be used forresponding to a user request within a home environment. Accordingly, useof such personal information data may facilitate transactions (e.g.,on-line transactions). Further, other uses for personal information datathat benefit the user are also contemplated by the present disclosure.For instance, health and fitness data may be used, in accordance withthe user's preferences to provide insights into their general wellness,or may be used as positive feedback to individuals using technology topursue wellness goals.

The present disclosure contemplates that those entities responsible forthe collection, analysis, disclosure, transfer, storage, or other use ofsuch personal information data will comply with well-established privacypolicies and/or privacy practices. In particular, such entities would beexpected to implement and consistently apply privacy practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining the privacy of users. Such informationregarding the use of personal data should be prominently and easilyaccessible by users, and should be updated as the collection and/or useof data changes. Personal information from users should be collected forlegitimate uses only. Further, such collection/sharing should occur onlyafter receiving the consent of the users or other legitimate basisspecified in applicable law. Additionally, such entities should considertaking any needed steps for safeguarding and securing access to suchpersonal information data and ensuring that others with access to thepersonal information data adhere to their privacy policies andprocedures. Further, such entities can subject themselves to evaluationby third parties to certify their adherence to widely accepted privacypolicies and practices. In addition, policies and practices should beadapted for the particular types of personal information data beingcollected and/or accessed and adapted to applicable laws and standards,including jurisdiction-specific considerations which may serve to imposea higher standard. For instance, in the US, collection of or access tocertain health data may be governed by federal and/or state laws, suchas the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA);whereas health data in other countries may be subject to otherregulations and policies and should be handled accordingly.

Despite the foregoing, the present disclosure also contemplatesembodiments in which users selectively block the use of, or access to,personal information data. That is, the present disclosure contemplatesthat hardware and/or software elements can be provided to prevent orblock access to such personal information data. For example, in the caseof responding to a user request using a multi-user device within a homeenvironment, the present technology can be configured to allow users toselect to “opt in” or “opt out” of participation in the collection ofpersonal information data during registration for services or anytimethereafter. In addition to providing “opt in” and “opt out” options, thepresent disclosure contemplates providing notifications relating to theaccess or use of personal information. For instance, a user may benotified upon downloading an app that their personal information datawill be accessed and then reminded again just before personalinformation data is accessed by the app.

Moreover, it is the intent of the present disclosure that personalinformation data should be managed and handled in a way to minimizerisks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. Risk can beminimized by limiting the collection of data and deleting data once itis no longer needed. In addition, and when applicable, including incertain health related applications, data de-identification can be usedto protect a user's privacy. De-identification may be facilitated, whenappropriate, by removing identifiers, controlling the amount orspecificity of data stored (e.g., collecting location data at city levelrather than at an address level), controlling how data is stored (e.g.,aggregating data across users), and/or other methods such asdifferential privacy.

Therefore, although the present disclosure broadly covers use ofpersonal information data to implement one or more various disclosedembodiments, the present disclosure also contemplates that the variousembodiments can also be implemented without the need for accessing suchpersonal information data. That is, the various embodiments of thepresent technology are not rendered inoperable due to the lack of all ora portion of such personal information data.

FIG. 9 illustrates an electronic system 900 with which one or moreimplementations of the subject technology may be implemented. Theelectronic system 900 can be, and/or can be a part of, one or more ofthe electronic devices 102-107, the content provider 112 and/or thecloud-based service 114 shown in FIG. 1 . The electronic system 900 mayinclude various types of computer readable media and interfaces forvarious other types of computer readable media. The electronic system900 includes a bus 908, one or more processing unit(s) 912, a systemmemory 904 (and/or buffer), a ROM 910, a permanent storage device 902,an input device interface 914, an output device interface 906, and oneor more network interfaces 916, or subsets and variations thereof.

The bus 908 collectively represents all system, peripheral, and chipsetbuses that communicatively connect the numerous internal devices of theelectronic system 900. In one or more implementations, the bus 908communicatively connects the one or more processing unit(s) 912 with theROM 910, the system memory 904, and the permanent storage device 902.From these various memory units, the one or more processing unit(s) 912retrieves instructions to execute and data to process in order toexecute the processes of the subject disclosure. The one or moreprocessing unit(s) 912 can be a single processor or a multi-coreprocessor in different implementations.

The ROM 910 stores static data and instructions that are needed by theone or more processing unit(s) 912 and other modules of the electronicsystem 900. The permanent storage device 902, on the other hand, may bea read-and-write memory device. The permanent storage device 902 may bea non-volatile memory unit that stores instructions and data even whenthe electronic system 900 is off. In one or more implementations, amass-storage device (such as a magnetic or optical disk and itscorresponding disk drive) may be used as the permanent storage device902.

In one or more implementations, a removable storage device (such as afloppy disk, flash drive, and its corresponding disk drive) may be usedas the permanent storage device 902. Like the permanent storage device902, the system memory 904 may be a read-and-write memory device.However, unlike the permanent storage device 902, the system memory 904may be a volatile read-and-write memory, such as random access memory.The system memory 904 may store any of the instructions and data thatone or more processing unit(s) 912 may need at runtime. In one or moreimplementations, the processes of the subject disclosure are stored inthe system memory 904, the permanent storage device 902, and/or the ROM910. From these various memory units, the one or more processing unit(s)912 retrieves instructions to execute and data to process in order toexecute the processes of one or more implementations.

The bus 908 also connects to the input and output device interfaces 914and 906. The input device interface 914 enables a user to communicateinformation and select commands to the electronic system 900. Inputdevices that may be used with the input device interface 914 mayinclude, for example, alphanumeric keyboards and pointing devices (alsocalled “cursor control devices”). The output device interface 906 mayenable, for example, the display of images generated by electronicsystem 900. Output devices that may be used with the output deviceinterface 906 may include, for example, printers and display devices,such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED)display, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, a flexibledisplay, a flat panel display, a solid state display, a projector, orany other device for outputting information. One or more implementationsmay include devices that function as both input and output devices, suchas a touchscreen. In these implementations, feedback provided to theuser can be any form of sensory feedback, such as visual feedback,auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can bereceived in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 9 , the bus 908 also couples the electronicsystem 900 to one or more networks and/or to one or more network nodes,such as the content provider 112 shown in FIG. 1 , through the one ormore network interface(s) 916. In this manner, the electronic system 900can be a part of a network of computers (such as a LAN, a wide areanetwork (“WAN”), or an Intranet, or a network of networks, such as theInternet. Any or all components of the electronic system 900 can be usedin conjunction with the subject disclosure.

Implementations within the scope of the present disclosure can bepartially or entirely realized using a tangible computer-readablestorage medium (or multiple tangible computer-readable storage media ofone or more types) encoding one or more instructions. The tangiblecomputer-readable storage medium also can be non-transitory in nature.

The computer-readable storage medium can be any storage medium that canbe read, written, or otherwise accessed by a general purpose or specialpurpose computing device, including any processing electronics and/orprocessing circuitry capable of executing instructions. For example,without limitation, the computer-readable medium can include anyvolatile semiconductor memory, such as RAM, DRAM, SRAM, T-RAM, Z-RAM,and TTRAM. The computer-readable medium also can include anynon-volatile semiconductor memory, such as ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM,NVRAM, flash, nvSRAM, FeRAM, FeTRAM, MRAM, PRAM, CBRAM, SONOS, RRAM,NRAM, racetrack memory, FJG, and Millipede memory.

Further, the computer-readable storage medium can include anynon-semiconductor memory, such as optical disk storage, magnetic diskstorage, magnetic tape, other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium capable of storing one or more instructions. In one or moreimplementations, the tangible computer-readable storage medium can bedirectly coupled to a computing device, while in other implementations,the tangible computer-readable storage medium can be indirectly coupledto a computing device, e.g., via one or more wired connections, one ormore wireless connections, or any combination thereof.

Instructions can be directly executable or can be used to developexecutable instructions. For example, instructions can be realized asexecutable or non-executable machine code or as instructions in ahigh-level language that can be compiled to produce executable ornon-executable machine code. Further, instructions also can be realizedas or can include data. Computer-executable instructions also can beorganized in any format, including routines, subroutines, programs, datastructures, objects, modules, applications, applets, functions, etc. Asrecognized by those of skill in the art, details including, but notlimited to, the number, structure, sequence, and organization ofinstructions can vary significantly without varying the underlyinglogic, function, processing, and output.

While the above discussion primarily refers to microprocessor ormulti-core processors that execute software, one or more implementationsare performed by one or more integrated circuits, such as ASICs orFPGAs. In one or more implementations, such integrated circuits executeinstructions that are stored on the circuit itself.

Those of skill in the art would appreciate that the various illustrativeblocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms describedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To illustrate this interchangeability of hardwareand software, various illustrative blocks, modules, elements,components, methods, and algorithms have been described above generallyin terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality isimplemented as hardware or software depends upon the particularapplication and design constraints imposed on the overall system.Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varyingways for each particular application. Various components and blocks maybe arranged differently (e.g., arranged in a different order, orpartitioned in a different way) all without departing from the scope ofthe subject technology.

It is understood that any specific order or hierarchy of blocks in theprocesses disclosed is an illustration of example approaches. Based upondesign preferences, it is understood that the specific order orhierarchy of blocks in the processes may be rearranged, or that allillustrated blocks be performed. Any of the blocks may be performedsimultaneously. In one or more implementations, multitasking andparallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation ofvarious system components in the implementations described above shouldnot be understood as requiring such separation in all implementations,and it should be understood that the described program components andsystems can generally be integrated together in a single softwareproduct or packaged into multiple software products.

As used in this specification and any claims of this application, theterms “base station”, “receiver”, “computer”, “server”, “processor”, and“memory” all refer to electronic or other technological devices. Theseterms exclude people or groups of people. For the purposes of thespecification, the terms “display” or “displaying” means displaying onan electronic device.

As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” preceding a series ofitems, with the term “and” or “or” to separate any of the items,modifies the list as a whole, rather than each member of the list (i.e.,each item). The phrase “at least one of” does not require selection ofat least one of each item listed; rather, the phrase allows a meaningthat includes at least one of any one of the items, and/or at least oneof any combination of the items, and/or at least one of each of theitems. By way of example, the phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” or“at least one of A, B, or C” each refer to only A, only B, or only C;any combination of A, B, and C; and/or at least one of each of A, B, andC.

The predicate words “configured to”, “operable to”, and “programmed to”do not imply any particular tangible or intangible modification of asubject, but, rather, are intended to be used interchangeably. In one ormore implementations, a processor configured to monitor and control anoperation or a component may also mean the processor being programmed tomonitor and control the operation or the processor being operable tomonitor and control the operation. Likewise, a processor configured toexecute code can be construed as a processor programmed to execute codeor operable to execute code.

Phrases such as an aspect, the aspect, another aspect, some aspects, oneor more aspects, an implementation, the implementation, anotherimplementation, some implementations, one or more implementations, anembodiment, the embodiment, another embodiment, some implementations,one or more implementations, a configuration, the configuration, anotherconfiguration, some configurations, one or more configurations, thesubject technology, the disclosure, the present disclosure, othervariations thereof and alike are for convenience and do not imply that adisclosure relating to such phrase(s) is essential to the subjecttechnology or that such disclosure applies to all configurations of thesubject technology. A disclosure relating to such phrase(s) may apply toall configurations, or one or more configurations. A disclosure relatingto such phrase(s) may provide one or more examples. A phrase such as anaspect or some aspects may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa,and this applies similarly to other foregoing phrases.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration”. Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” or as an “example” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other implementations. Furthermore, tothe extent that the term “include”, “have”, or the like is used in thedescription or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted whenemployed as a transitional word in a claim.

All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the variousaspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or latercome to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expresslyincorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed bythe claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to bededicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure isexplicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construedunder the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the element isexpressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of amethod claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for”.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more”. Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Pronouns in themasculine (e.g., his) include the feminine and neuter gender (e.g., herand its) and vice versa. Headings and subheadings, if any, are used forconvenience only and do not limit the subject disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a device, avoice request for content, the device being associated with a first useraccount, a second user account and a default account; determining, bythe device, that the voice request corresponds to the first useraccount; determining, by the device, that the content is unavailable viathe first user account; and providing, by the device and in response todetermining that the content is unavailable via the first user account,the content via at least one of the second user account or the defaultaccount; and updating a playback history for the at least one of thefirst user account, the second user account or the default account basedon the providing.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the device providesthe content via the second user account based on a determination thatthe content is available via the second user account.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the device provides the content via the default accountbased on a determination that the content is unavailable via the seconduser account.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second user accountcorresponds to an owner of the device.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereindetermining that the voice request corresponds to the first user accountcomprises determining that the voice request corresponds to the firstuser account based on a voice profile associated with the first useraccount.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining is based onan availability of the content within a cloud-based library of contentassociated with the first user account.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving, by the device, another voice request foranother content, the other voice request corresponding to the first useraccount, wherein the other content is available via the first useraccount and at least one of the second user account or the defaultaccount; and providing, by the device, the other content via the firstuser account instead of via the at least one of the second user accountor the default account.
 8. A device, comprising: at least one processor;and a memory including instructions that, when executed by the at leastone processor, cause the at least one processor to: receive a voicerequest for content, the device being associated with a first useraccount, a second user account and a default account; determine that thevoice request corresponds to the first user account; determine that thecontent is unavailable via the first user account; provide, in responseto a determination that the content is unavailable via the first useraccount, the content via at least one of the second user account or thedefault account; and update a playback history for the at least one ofthe first user account, the second user account or the default accountbased on the providing.
 9. The device of claim 8, wherein the deviceprovides the content via the second user account based on adetermination that the content is available via the second user account.10. The device of claim 8, wherein the device provides the content viathe default account based on a determination that the content isunavailable via the second user account.
 11. The device of claim 8,wherein the second user account corresponds to an owner of the device.12. The device of claim 8, the instructions further causing the at leastone processor to: determine that the voice request corresponds to thefirst user account based on a voice profile associated with the firstuser account.
 13. The device of claim 8, wherein the determining isbased on an availability of the content within a cloud-based library ofcontent associated with the first user account.
 14. The device of claim8, the instructions further causing the at least one processor to:receive another voice request for another content, the other voicerequest corresponding to the first user account, wherein the othercontent is available via the first user account and at least one of thesecond user account or the default account; and provide the othercontent via the first user account instead of via the at least one ofthe second user account or the default account.
 15. A computer programproduct comprising code, stored in a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium, the code comprising: code to receive, by a device, avoice request for content, the device being associated with a first useraccount, a second user account and a default account, the second useraccount corresponding to an owner of the device; code to determine, bythe device, that the voice request corresponds to the first useraccount; code to determine, by the device, that the content isunavailable via the first user account; code to provide, by the deviceand in response to a determination that the content is unavailable viathe first user account, the content via at least one of the second useraccount or the default account; and code to update a playback historyfor the at least one of the first user account, the second user accountor the default account based on the providing.
 16. The computer programproduct of claim 15, wherein the device provides the content via thesecond user account based on a determination that the content isavailable via the second user account.
 17. The computer program productof claim 15, wherein the device provides the content via the defaultaccount based on a determination that the content is unavailable via thesecond user account.
 18. The computer program product of claim 15, thecode to determine, by the device, that the voice request corresponds tothe first user account further comprises: code to determine, by thedevice, that the voice request corresponds to the first user accountbased on a voice profile associated with the first user account.
 19. Thecomputer program product of claim 15, wherein the determining is basedon an availability of the content within a cloud-based library ofcontent associated with the first user account.
 20. The computer programproduct of claim 15, wherein the code further comprises: code to receiveanother voice request for another content, the other voice requestcorresponding to the first user account, wherein the other content isavailable via the first user account and at least one of the second useraccount or the default account; and code to provide the other contentvia the first user account instead of via the at least one of the seconduser account or the default account.